Whitney Houston Remembered on 49th Birthday

Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — Friends, family and fans of Whitney Houston are remembering the late singer on Thursday, recognizing what would have been her 49th birthday. Nearly six months have passed since that February day when Houston, the most awarded female music artist of all time, died in her Los Angeles hotel room at the age of 48.

This week would have been particularly special for Whitney. Trailers and posters for Sparkle, the film remake that Whitney stars in alongside Jordin Sparks, herald the movie’s August 17 release, just weeks away. The Sparkle debut will give Whitney fans a chance to see and hear her once more.

Following her death, lovers of “The Voice” — as Whitney was called — quickly snapped up copies of her music. Though her Whitney: The Greatest Hits album came out in 2000, a sales spike after her passing put the compilation at #4 on Billboard‘s mid-year list of top-selling albums. The Whitney: The Greatest Hits set has sold 818,000 units to date in 2012, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

As for Whitney’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, she’s followed in her mother’s footsteps into the entertainment world. Movie mogul Tyler Perry cast the young actress in his TBS comedy show Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse, and later gushed that Bobbi Kris had done a “fantastic job” on set. Whitney’s only daughter with R&B singer Bobby Brown also got a tattoo in honor of her mother’s birthday — the letters WH surrounded by doves, according to her Twitter feed.